It’s been a while since you visited the dentist. So you call my East Setauket dental office and this is what you can expect! Does a voice pick up our line and say: “hold please?” or “to speak to the receptionist press 1, to speak to the assistant press 2.” No! My receptionist, May Paone, answers the phone and with her friendly voice asks, “how can I help you?” She will spend time learning about you and will schedule an appointment for you to see us within days. If it’s an emergency we’ll see you as soon as you can get to the office, even after hours or weekends.

May will send you an email confirming the appointment. She will send a link to our website that has a link to mapquest to help you find the office and a link to patient forms for you to fill out in advance and email back to us. She will let me know that a new patient has called and I will call you that evening to ask what I can do to help you.

When you arrive at the office, you will be warmly greeted by name and will be escorted into my office – no waiting – we respect your time. We will chat some more about your concerns. I often will take close up photos of your teeth to help us see what we can do to help. Photos are a great education tool for the patient and for me. I also have videos on implants, dentures, crowns and other procedures that help to explain what we can do. We don’t charge for this consult.

If you decide to proceed, we explain that xrays and a comprehensive exam will be needed. We will tell you ahead of time what the costs will be. We take a full set of xrays so we can see each tooth and the surrounding bone. The comprehensive exam includes an oral cancer screening and periodontal assessment. Once we have collected the data, I develop alternative treatment plans depending on your desires, finances and health. All of the options are thoroughly discussed with you so you know the choices and associated fees.We work to make the dentistry affordable, and we offer financing and credit. I also continually review my fees and recognize that times are tight.We don’t want people to delay getting necessary dental work done.

Once you make a decision, we can schedule the necessary appointments. I give you my cell phone number so I can always be reached. If I am away, my answering service sends me a text message the instant you call, so I can call you right back or I can always be reached via email. After every dental appointment in our office, May or I will call you to ask how you are feeling. When treatment is complete, we schedule you for a checkup appointment so we can maintain your dental health. We ask for input from you so we can modify our procedures to best serve our patients.

In my office you are not just a chart or tooth number. You will not be asked to wait. You will not be told it’s your fault. You will not be told “wait and it will get better.” You will not be seen by a different person every time you come to the office. You will see me – and May and Linda Gomez – who have been my teammates for over two years. Our goal is to do our very best for you. This is why we are different.